Planet's Requiem
by SomeknowmeasXeno
Summary: The 'Remnant'. A small pocket of space and time home to a forgotten world on the brink of destruction. A world halved, a world chained to existence. This world, it is also but a remnant of a universe long since lost to nothingness. One kitsune travels to this world in search of a power for which he craves like no-other: but for what purpose? What will become of the planet?
1. Chapter 1

"Steady, steady... just don't one of you let him out of your line of fire until we know what we're dealing with." The squad captain ordered as the four soldiers under his command closed in on a short, strange orange creature. All of the soldiers were outfitted in plated silver armor with a vague resemblance to knights: only modernised, with dull grey combat pants and a grey sleeveless sweeter on underneath, each one armed with a sort of assault rifle. The creature, standing at only 3 foot 3 drifted its gaze from left to right. Its large eyes were a dull yellow, its pupils bright red. "We've got it surrounded lads. Unidentified creature appears to be sentiant from the look of things..." The captain smirked, nodding to himself. The creature sighed. Its muzzle was covered in unkempt white fur like that of a fox, a small black nose just under its eyes. Its skin looked almost reptilian and was a bright orange. Its head was domed and ended in a sharp tip at the back with three rows of fin-like spikes running along the top of its head with shaggy white fur running inbetween the rows and covering its fox-like ears above, and a little behind, its eyes. A trio of tails flowed behind the short orange beast, each one ending in a bone-white, glaive-esque tip with fin-like spikes surrounded by white fur running along the top-side of each one. On the outer sides of its lower legs, as well as the outer side of its left arm were large patchs of unkempt white fur. On each hand were four fingers and a thumb, though the creature's right arm was drastically different from its left, and as an extension the rest of its body. Its right arm had a demonic look to it, most of it covered in a crimson chitin-like armor and the exposed flesh, such as the underside of the forearm and palm of the hand, as well as the flame-like pattern that run up to its elbow, was glowing a spectral yellow. The rest of its body features could not be accurately made out as it was actually wearing clothes: a clear sign of sentiance and civility. On its feet were a pair of brown sneakers with grey knee-length shorts, kept in place by a black belt with a gold buckle, up above. Strapped to the left leg of the shorts was a red pouch, the straps a healthy shade of yellow. On its left hand was a fingerless brown leather glove. The creature also wore a black tank-top style shirt, but with a zipper, and over that a short blue jacket. The jacket had short sleeves that got only to the elbows with a yellow fire symbol on the back and upturned collar, along with two straps on the shoulders and a brown shoulder holster attached to the jacket. Sheathed at the creature's side was a katana: its tsuba and hilt end golden, its hilt wrapped in white leather. The weapon's saya black with platinum decals and a platinum kojiri.

"Just what is this thing, sir?" One of the soldiers looked to the captain. Like the rest, the soldier wore a smooth silver helmet and a sage scarf around the neck, also covering the bottom of his face.

"I'm not sure myself." The captain rubbed his chin before shrugging. The creature began to tap its right foot impatiently. They'd cornered him in the city streets, on his way to the city centre.

"Wait..." Another soldier lowered his gun. "Multiple tails... fox-like features..." He muttered to himself. "It's a kitsune! A kitsune!" He exclaimed, quickly raising his gun again as everyone looked to him as he freaked out. The supposed kitsune raised his left brow, curious as to the soldier's sudden freak-out. Before anybody else could chip in the startled soldier opened fire, firing off an entire clip. The kitsune drew his katana from its sheath, taking a firm hold of it in his left hand after flipping it around so he caught it with the blade in reverse, and quickly spun the sword around in one hand: deflecting each bullet and making the other soldiers duck for cover. "We're finished! It's the harbinger of the end! Come to finish what its race started eons ago!" No more bullets left his gun, the clip was empty: but the soldier didn't take his finger off of the trigger. The kitsune stopped spinning his sword and swiped it across the floor: placing one bullet he had caught on the blade gently down before him. He tossed his sword up into the air and grabbed his sheath, pulling it upwards to catch the falling blade. Click. The blade was sheathed once more. The rest of the humans stood back up, the attacking soldier now frozen in place with fear. He gulped. The kitsune stared right at him. The soldier stumbled backwards. The kitsune sighed and looked away.

"Guess I'll take the train instead..." His voice sounded relatively young and had no specific accent. With one leap the kitsune landed atop the passing bullet train on the tracks off to the side, below street level. The squad captain stumbled onto his feet as the train zoomed, taking the kitsune with it.

"And it got away... somebody get command on the radio..."

* * *

As the bullet train sped along the tracks the kitsune stood atop the front of it with his hands on his hips, the wind blowing through the unkempt fur scattered around his body. He drifted his eyes from left to right before folding his arms and looking ahead.

"Well... at least it's not the morning commute, I got that going for me." The kitsune mumbled. He closed his eyes and eased up, letting the train take him away. As the train zoomed on along the tracks, street lights whizzing past in a blur with the sparkling stars flying past overhead, Ravage found himself in a momentary peace. His mind was clear as the wind bashed against him, the chilling breeze blowing through his fur. All he could hear was the whistling wind and the speeding train upon which he stood. He'd reach his destination in no time at all. As the bullet train sped under a small bridge connecting the roads on either side and then came out on the other end Ravage heard something drop down behind him. It must have been relatively light as like when he had jumped onto the train none of the passengers had taken notice. Ravage opened his eyes but didn't look back. A lone caucasian woman stood behind him, most of her features hidden by the black cloak she wore which covered her torso, arms and the lower half of her face. Though her legs and head were still visible: armored brown boots on her feet and baggy brown pants above. A black turban was wrapped around the top of her head but her brunette shoulder-length still flowed in the wind behind her. Gripped firmly in her right hand was a jagged scythe. She narrowed her eyes as Ravage kept on looking forward, her hazel pupils focused on the mysterious little creature. She knew he expected her to attack, she could sense he was ready to counter at any time. Ravage suddenly chuckled to himself. "Are the tickets really that expensive you want to ride up here with me for free?" Ravage looked over his right shoulder. The woman was gone. The train entered a tunnel and into darkness it went. A few seconds later the train emerged from the other end and Ravage was blocking a strike from the woman's scythe with his right hand, his demon arm. The curved blade was gripped firmly in his glowing yellow palm. The woman was a little taken back by the sight. Ravage gave her dull look as he looked up to her, she stood at 5 foot 8. On her arms were silver metal gauntlets with fingerless red gloves. The staff of her scythe was completely metal like the blade of the weapon itself, worn leather wrapped around the middle where it was gripped. "Is this a race thing because..."

"Shut up!" The woman kicked Ravage back, the kitsune skidding to a halt a few metres away from the woman. She pulled her cloak down from the lower half of her face and discarded her turban, letting the unwrapped cloth float away in the wind. "We lost half of our planet because of your kind, I will not allow you destroy the rest."

"So this is a race thing...?" Ravage cracked his neck from side to side. The woman held her scythe out to the side.

"Little demon, I will return you to the hell from which you came. I will save my planet." The woman growled.

"Are we really doing this?" Ravage asked.

"This world..." And Ravage stopped paying attention as the woman went on, looking incredibly bored as he glanced from left to right. Something about the end of the world; a disaster eons ago, more discrimination to kitsunes, preparation for a fated day, some prophecy bs. Ravage really did not care, it was exposition.

"Can we fight now? I've got 7 minutes until my stop... so 7 minutes is all I can spare... to fight, not listen to an audio book." Ravage looked back to the woman. She gave him a blank stare. That stare quickly turned into a glare as she grated her teeth.

"Oh my fu... yes!" The woman dashed forward.

"I actually didn't expect you to oblige... thanks..." Ravage dashed forward as well. The two clashed once more, Ravage's katana against her scythe: sparks flying between the two. "Racist." Ravage smirked.

"Grr..." The woman pushed Ravage back as they struggled.

"Not bad, strongest opponent I've met since I got here." Ravage complimented as flames engulfed him and yellow bio-electricity began to zap around him.

"What in the..." The woman was cut off as Ravage used a rising uppercut with his demon arm to send her rocketing into the air. Ravage jumped up after her and tge two locked blades in mid-air as they flipped through the air. The two landed on the moving train again but their positions were reversed, Ravage at the front of the train once more and the woman further back.

"It's strange I can't tap into all of my power here... in this realm... well, its remnant anyway." Ravage looked at his open palm, holding his sword in his left hand. "I may actually have to try on occasion. Ah well, let's have some fun." Ravage adopted a battle stance, right foot in front of his left with his sword at back and demon arm up front. The woman twirled her scythe over her head before adopting her own battle stance: a reverse of Ravage's current stance but with her scythe's blade to the floor and handle to the sky, behind the woman's back.

"For everlasting peace." The woman narrowed her eyes and readied herself.

"Hmm... for endless battle." Ravage readied himself, sheathing his katana after twirling it around, and then grabbing the scabbard in his left hand as he wrapped his right hand around the sword's hilt.


	2. Chapter 2

"I won't let my world die!" The woman rushed forward, moving in the blink of an eye towards Ravage with her scythe at the ready. Ravage tightened his grip on his sword's hilt. The kitsune dashed forward, leaving behind an afterimage, meeting the woman head-on. Ravage quickly drew his katana from its scabbard and parried the woman's scythe: knocking the woman back. Ravage jumped up and with one spinning kick to the side of her face sent her flying off the train and straight towards the wall on the left of the train. The woman recovered and flipped around in mid-air, landing safely on the wall. Ravage sheathed his sword and smirked. The woman growled and began to run forward, running along the wall and managing to keep up with the train. She made her jump and went in for a downwards strike on Ravage. Ravage backflipped and the woman barely managed to avoid sending her scythe's blade through the roof of the train, rolling forwards and then blocking a strike from Ravage's katana with the staff of her scythe. Ravage took a step back and twirled his sword around with a chuckle.

"Good reflexes." Ravage ducked under the woman's follow-up swipe, then jumped over the 2nd attack before countering the 3rd with a swipe of his sword. The woman leapt backwards, skidding to a halt as she twirled her scythe above her. Ravage sheathed his katana once again. A few sparks of yellow bio-electricity zapped around the kitsune for a brief moment. "You know I think there's a lot of bad communication going on between us." Ravage commented.

"Shut up!" The woman rushed Ravage and pushed him back with a rapid flurry of attacks, Ravage parrying and blocking each one with his katana as he stepped backwards. The woman got in a quick straight kick to Ravage's face, knocking him off the train and high into the sky: over the next bridge the train was about to pass under. The woman ran forward before jumping up onto the bridge and then leaping into the air in pursuit of Ravage. Ravage blocked the woman's next strike with his demon arm, using the red chitin like a gauntlet and blocking the blade with the side of the arm. The two spun around in mid-air as they clashed.

"Ok, you don't care. Fine by me." Ravage knocked her back and the two began to freefall towards the bridge below. Ravage landed safely on all fours, gripping his katana in his mouth by its hilt, whilst the woman landed safely on her feet at the opposite end of the bridge. Ravage quickly ran towards the woman, dashing forwards on all fours before jumping up and dropkicking her in the face whilst he grabbed his sword from his mouth. As the woman flipped backwards through the air Ravage sheathed his sword and got into a ready stance: preparing to quick draw the blade. The woman recovered mid-flight and used her scythe to swing around a lamp post so she didn't crash into the building behind her. Ravage drew his katana from its scabbard with blinding speed and sent forth a blue crescent beam of energy as the woman flew towards him with her scythe at the ready. Slicing straight through the sword beam the woman continued to fly towards Ravage as he threw his katana up into the air and then caught it in his mouth again. Leaving behind an afterimage, Ravage dashed straight for the woman: knocking her scythe back, parrying her strike with the blade of his katana as bio-electricity began to zap around both of his arms whilst he spun sideways in the air.

"What the..." The woman gasped. Ravage skidded to a halt just in front of her a delivered a powerful blow to her gut, winding her. Before she could even stumble back Ravage knocked her scythe up into the air with his left tail and began to bombard her with a flurry of rapid punches, his arms a blur as the bio-electricity zapped around him and shocked the woman. Lightning suddenly repeatedly struck the ground around the two as Ravage's rapid assault continued in the blink of an eye. An aura of fire flared up around the kitsune as he pulled his demon arm back. "D... da... damn it!" The woman grunted through the pain as lightning struck her. Ravage narrowed his eyes and went in for the rising uppercut, demon arm now coated in flames. "ARRRGGGHHH!" The woman was engulfed by a sparking blue aura which knocked Ravage back as it flared up, the kitsune backflipping and skidding to a halt as the woman held her right arm up into the air and caught her scythe, reassuming her battle stance immediately after. Ravage took his sword from his mouth with his demon arm as he took hold of its scabbard with his left arm, spinning the katana in his right hand as he held the scabbard out in front of him. He smirked and quickly sheathed the blade. The woman gave him a curious look. The two pieces she had sliced Ravage's sword beam into made a u-turn before they collided with a building and rushed straight back to the woman. As she looked back to see them homing in on her Ravage twirled his sheathed sword around in his left hand before putting the scabbard back at his side. The blasts collided with the woman head-on but as the smoke cleared she appeared to be perfectly fine: looking back to Ravage with a scowl. Ravage folded his arms.

"Ain't that just cute." Ravage chuckled, unfolding his arms and cracking his knuckles. The blue aura around the woman faded away, unable to maintain itself, and she dashed towards Ravage: the kitsune narrowly jumping out of the way her first strike, blocking the 2nd with his demon arm and then completely avoiding the 3rd by flipping over the woman and going in to punch her to the ground. The woman quickly dodged the attack and the fist of Ravage's demon arm colliding with the ground: destroying the stone bridge the two stood upon and launching them and large chunks of debris up into the night sky. Ravage looked around as the chunk he stood on went higher and higher, flipping repeatedly round and round. "Was wondering when we'd start destroying stuff." And within the next split-second the woman launched herself from her platform, flew straight at Ravage and sent her scythe's blade straight through his chest before she swung him around, up, down and all around: smashing him through debris chunk after debris chunk and then flung him off of the blade, sending him crashing into a building which he then bounced off of and went crashing into the ground. The woman landed safely a few feet away from Ravage as he laid in a very small crater and the rubble of the bridge crashed down on the train tracks off to her right. "Hey..." The woman's eyes widened. Ravage sat up in the crater, crimson blood pouring from the wound in his chest. "I think that was my heart." Ravage looked down at his wound as it slowly began to heal up and the woman slowly turned to face him. "Yeah that was my heart..." Ravage muttered. "Nice, I thought you might miss." Ravage looked up to the woman and smiled. He stumbled to his feet and cracked his neck from side to side. His wound had healed and his clothes were magically sowing themselves back together. "Good old magi-fibres." Ravage chuckled.

"What are you...?" The woman prepared to continue their fight.

"Like you've been saying, a demon: a kitsune." Ravage replied. He looked to the rubble on the train tracks. "Can't have that." Ravage muttered to himself, lifting up his demon arm and holding it out to the side. A yellow aura engulfed the arm. The woman assumed her battle stance. A giant yellow spectral arm shot out from Ravage's demon arm, the spectral arm picking up all the rubble in one sweep before chucking them high into the sky after which the spectral arm faded away. Ravage then fired a barrage of yellow energy blasts from the palm of his demon arm, each one obliterating one of the chunks of rubble until there was no debris left. Ravage lowered his arm and looked back to the woman. "You're actually pretty good, don't be ashamed that you've barely damaged me: I am not of this world, you can't compare... just yet. But like the rest of the humans on this planet, you're far stronger than the average human race. Must be something to do with the place this planet resides in, I'm also much weaker here right now. I may actually encounter a bit of struggle down the road... I'll have to be on guard." Ravage rubbed his nose.

"The hell are you talking about?" The woman lowered her scythe.

"It's a long and complicated story... I might tell you one day." Ravage shrugged. "Keep on training, you haven't tapped into your full power yet: but it's there, waiting." The kitsune encouraged. "Your potential shined through earlier, it was impressive. Well..." Ravage started to walk forward. The woman readied her weapon. "I've got a king to see." Ravage walked straight past the woman.

"Huh...?" She turned as he walked past, keeping her eyes focused on the little demon. She considered striking now. "But the prophecy..." The woman muttered to herself. "Hey!" Ravage came to a halt. "We're not done yet." The woman tightened her grip on her scythe.

"You're right... I said 7 minutes and it's not even been close to 2 yet..." Ravage looked over his shoulder. A grin popped onto his face. "But I've seen all I need to see." His grin disappeared. "If we're gonna fight it needs to be fairer, and I actually don't feel like causing more property damage then I need to. Sorry for the anti-climax but I'm here on business."

"I can't just let you walk away like this, I..."

"Tag along if you want." Ravage shrugged again, cutting her off.

"I'm trying to kill you." The woman snapped back.

"Tag along, I ain't bothered." Ravage chuckled.

"What is this?!" The woman exclaimed.

"You coming or not?" Ravage started to walk off.

"I, I, I..." The woman felt like tearing her hair out.

"Oh yeah, what's your name by the way?" Ravage stopped and looked over his shoulder again. "I'm Ravage... yeah the name don't do me any favours does it in regards to your whole prophecy thing. But trust me, we wouldn't be having this conversation if I was here as a destructor."

"Why should I tell you my name?! I came here to kill you, I..." Again Ravage cut her off.

"Use that head of yours, why would I clear the rubble away if I was here to kill off your race and end you're world. I'm here to see the king of this country and that's it for now." Ravage tapped his forehead as he continued on.

"I'm not letting you out of my sights." Thd woman growled, holstering her scythe on her back and running after the kitsune. Ravage smirked and kept on walking as she caught up. "We're not done yet." The woman cracked her knuckles as she reluctantly walked alongside Ravage.

"Yeah, yeah. Just calm down for now." Ravage sighed. "We can fight anytime after I'm done here. So just who are you?" Ravage looked up to the woman as they walked along. There was a short silence between the two.

"What's it to you?" The woman frowned.

"Well you're trying to kill me... in my eyes for purely a species thing. I kinda like to know who has beef with me. Plus I told you mine." Ravage responded. The woman grated her teeth.

"I'm... I'm Tidea." The woman begrudgingly answered.

"Well, Tidea... I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship." Ravage waved his arms around in front of himself dramatically.

"I hate you already." Tidea narrowed her eyes.

"Sounds about right." Ravage shrugged. Tidea sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ah, so this is the city centre..." Ravage smiled as he and Tidea walked out into the light, emerging from underneath an archway in-between two buildings. The city centre was alive with the gathering of many of the city's inhabitants, lit up like a christmas tree with bright lights everywhere and the shining stars high above in the night sky. The two came to a stop. Tidea folded her arms and looked around. Ravage put his hands on his hips and chuckled. "I wouldn't mind looking around; get a meal or something, visit the arcade, take in the sights... but, I ain't got time to lollygag yet." Ravage sighed. "Nice place ain't it?" He looked over to Tidea. She ignored him. "Heh." Ravage looked to his front again, to the giant platinum statue in the middle of the city centre. It must have been at least 50 metres in height. "Ah, the man himself." Ravage folded his arms. The statue was that of a the king: a well-built man with a fantastic beard and a well-groomed mullet, the statue depicted him in armor akin to a medieval knight with a cape flowing to his right and a jewel encrusted crown atop his head. "The people seem to love him." Ravage noted the festivities around the statue.

"I hear they're celebrating the king's 70th birthday. His reign has lasted over 50 years by now." Tidea spoke up, unfolding her arms. "I come from a different land."

"Do you have your own monarchy there?" Ravage inquired.

"What's it to you?" Tidea narrowed her eyes.

"Just curious." Ravage shrugged. Tidea frowned. "You must be great at parties." Ravage smirked. He began to walk off. Tidea clenched her fists before following after him. She caught up in seconds, walking besides Ravage as they headed towards a crowd. "Should be directions to the king's palace around here somewhere." Ravage muttered.

"You're going to cause a scene, people will freak out when they see you." Tidea grated her teeth.

"I'm not going to cause a scene." Ravage laughed Tidea off. Even if he did, not too much of a big deal: might even get him to the palace faster.

"I still can't believe I'm even letting you do this..." Tidea sighed.

"You'll get your fight later, calm down..." Ravage came to a stop just before the crowd. Tidea gave him a curious look as she stopped besides him. Ravage's ears twitched as he sniffed the air with his little nose. "You sense that...?" Ravage looked to Tidea. She looked around in confusion before a chill ran up her spine.

"What is it...?" Tidea muttered. Ravage looked up to the night sky, Tidea looking up immediately afterwards. The wind picked up and dark clouds pulled in overhead. "Huh?" Tidea readied herself, clenching her fists. Ravage narrowed his eyes. The masses looked up to the troubled sky just as thunder cracked. A flash of blue light burst out from the dark clouds and a gargantuan winged figure began to descend from the portal hidden in the storm. "The hell..." Tidea readied her scythe. The creature's bat-like wings unfolded, revealing a dragon with dirt brown skin and bone white armor, claws on all four of its feet as black as the devil-like horns protruding from its head, its long tail ending in a sharpened edge. Its eyes were pure white and burning with fury, its teeth a dull yellow and razor sharp with two rows of the things in its mouth. The people below screamed out in terror as the beast let out a furious roar and landed atop the king's statue.

"Coleus sanctus." Ravage's eyes widened. Everybody tried to run, tripping and trambling over one another as the beast roared out again. Ravage grinned. "Told you I wouldn't cause a scene." Ravage began to walk through the panicked masses, after briefly glancing over to the fear struck Tidea. Everyone was running for their lives past the 3 foot 3 kitsune whilst he walked up to the statue and the raging beast.

* * *

"Holy shit..." A young man with wild, spiky red hair muttered as the dragon let another roar, dropping his beer bottle as he pushed up his sunglasses to his forehead: the bottle crashing down next to his right foot, shattering and splashing beer everywhere. "Ah crap..." The 26 year old muttered as he looked down. His hair spiked up at the front, most of it leaning to his right with a few locks over his forehead, the back of his hair spiking outwards as well. His eyes were emerald green and his skin caucasian like Tidea, though of a very slightly darker shade. He stood at 5 foot 11 and was dressed in an outfit very similar to the city guards, though lacking the armor: leaving him in black combat boots with navy blue baggy pants and a navy blue sleeveless turtle neck. A brown shoulder holster, akin to Ravage's holster, was over his turtle neck and a brown belt with a silver buckle held his pants up. He wore black fingerless gloves on his hands with white sports tape wrapped along his forearms. Holstered on his back was a double-sided broadsword with a simple metal handguard and a hilt wrapped in black leather. Under his left armpit, in a gun holster was a large silver magnum with a triple barrel. The man looked back up to the dragon. "I better get a raise for this." He sighed, grabbing the hilt of his sword with his right hand.

* * *

The dragon looked down to the masses as they fled, charging up a crimson magic blast in its mouth. It reared its head back as it finished charging and prepared to fire. A little boy, looking up in terror at the beast, took a step back as the dragon readied to unleash its attack. Just then Ravage passed on by, catching the child's attention. Ravage looked him in the eye and smirked. The boy was awestruck as Ravage passed on by, looking back to the dragon and continuing forward. Tidea was running after Ravage, only having just snapped out of her fear and rushing to fight the dragon. Ravage came to a stop just as the dragon lunged forward and unleashed a sparking crimson energy ball from its mouth. Ravage extended his demon arm, the arm glowing with power as the blast flew at him and the crowd behind him. Tidea passed the boy frozen in fear only to immediately skid to a halt and look back.

"Oh no..." Tidea muttered. She looked back and forth between the boy and the blast as time crawled to a halt for her. Ravage pulled back his demon arm, the spectral arm appearing above it: fist clenched. The man with spiky red hair skidde to a halt just besides the kid frozen in fear, pulling out his triple barrel magnum and taking aim at the dragon. "Huh?" Tidea's eyes widened.

"Cover your ears kid, I'm starting off with a bang." He grinned, lining up the shot. Ravage's spectral demon arm collided with the blast, literally punching it and holding it back. The dragon, its mouth still agape, still had control over the blast and struggled with Ravage's spectral arm counteract: the two trying to force one another back. "Bingo." The red-head muttered, firing off his magnum. One, two, three magic-infused bullets flew through the air: straight for the dragon's right eye.

"Gyaaaarrrrgh!" The dragon reared back in pain, blood spewing out from its right eye socket. Ravage finally forced the blast back, punching it straight towards the dragon. It hit it full-on, also knocking the king's statue back at the same time. Ravage quickly drew his katana, taking it in his right hand and rushed forward as the statue tumbled backwards, the dragon falling backwards with it.

"Now..." Tidea rushed forward herself, catching up with the kitsune effortlessly, her scythe at the ready. They leapt up into the air and landed on the legs of the falling statue. "I've got this!" Tidea run up the statue with Ravage, the two neck and neck. The red-headed man suddenly appeared on Ravage's left.

"Leave this to me." He grinned, keeping up effortlessly as all three ran up the falling statue. "Hey! You look cool little guy!" He took a double-take at Ravage. The kitsune chuckled.

"Thanks, first one there wins." Ravage replied.

"Who's the chick?" The red-head asked Ravage as they kept running.

"You what?" Tidea shot him a death glare. He gulped.

"I'll leave you two alone." Ravage shot off, moving at an incredible speed and leaving the other two in the dust.

"Hey!" The other two exclaimed in union, picking up speed themselves. Ravage jumped off of the head of the statue before it crashed into the ground below: soaring through the air and straight for the stunned dragon. The moment Ravage reached the dragon he unleashed a series of rapid kicks to its gut whilst they hung in mid-air before spinning upwards and striking its chin with his katana. Just then Tidea and the red-headed man appeared in the air above Ravage as he jumped off of the dragon's nose.

"Sure, have a go." Ravage smirked.

"I'll slice you up until there's nothing left." Tidea sliced at the dragon's neck, her scythe cutting through its flesh before she sliced its chest twice in an X pattern and then jumping away as the beast went to hit her with its left front foot, twirling her scythe around as she flew backwards.

"I always go in hard." The red-head landed on the dragon's head and stabbed his broadsword into its forehead before running along its back and tail, dragging the blade along through the beast as a blue aura engulfed the sword. As he reached the end of its tail, which was curled up to its chest, the red-head launched himself back up into the air: reaching Ravage and Tidea. "That didn't come out well, did it?" He looked to Ravage. Ravage shuck his head. The dragon roared out in pain just before it hit the ground: creating a crater upon impact. Ravage, Tidea and the red-head landed safely on the head of the toppled down statue.

"The name's Oren." The red-head twirled his sword around before planting it in the statue and leaning against it.

"Ravage." Ravage sheathed his katana and gave a thumbs up.

"Sweet name." Oren then looked to Tidea. She ignored him.

"She's anti-social." Ravage chuckled. Tidea growled. Oren chuckled with Ravage. "Wait, are you wearing sunglasses at night?" Ravage gave Oren a confused look.

"Uuh... there's a lot of lights." Oren shrugged.

"Blubbering idiots, stop talking and let's finish it off!" Tidea readied her scythe as the dragon got back on its feet.

"Son of a..." Oren was cut off as the dragon flew high up into the sky, reaching the clouds almost instantaneously, and began charging up another blast.

"Grr..." Tidea assumed her battle stance.

"Great, I can't jump that high..." Oren pulled his sword out of the ground. "Someone give me a boost, will yah?" He looked to Ravage and Tidea.

"Will you guys get serious?!" Tidea screamed out.

"Don't worry, it's charging an attack, we've got like 5 minutes." Oren joked.

"I'll finish this." Ravage smirked.

"Huh?" Oren scratched his head. Ravage suddenly launch himself up into the air, flying high with a single bound. "Uhh... you go little guy." Oren shrugged as he watched Ravage shoot up into the sky.

"Just what is he...?" Tidea muttered under her breath as the dragon continued to charge its final attack, torrents of energy swirling into its mouth as it aimed straight down at the city centre. As Ravage flew straight up his white fur waved uncontrollably in the wind as he gripped his sword in his left hand. The dragon unleashed its attack: a large crimson magic beam shooting from its mouth. Ravage grinned and held demon arm straight out above him: palm open. The blast struck Ravage head on but it did nothing to slow him down, the kitsune flying straight up through the beam, having unleashed a magic rune just as it struck his open demon arm palm that stopped it from continuing on down to the city centre. Ravage flew through the rest of the beam and then into the dragon's open mouth.

"Gyaaaarggghhh...!" Ravage sliced straight through its head, cutting through its skull with his sword and bursting out above the winged beast.

"Ahh, warm-ups." Ravage chuckled as he watched the dragon's lifeless corpse begin to fall down. The kitsune twirled his sword around before pulling up its scabbard and resheathing it, beginning to fall back down himself.

* * *

As the dust settled Tidea and Oren approached the dead dragon, their weapons holstered once more. They looked up to see Ravage standing atop its head, giving them a little wave.

"Damn that was cool." Oren folded his arms. Tidea frowned and shuck her head.

"Well, I wonder if anybody likes dragon meat..." Ravage rubbed his chin, just then the dragon's corpse faded away into little blue sparkles: Ravage falling and landing flat on his ass as a result. Oren winced at the sight. "Ah crap..." Ravage growled. He stood back up. "Didn't even get any loot, what a rip-off."


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you done yet?" Tidea scowled, folding her arms.

"Hey, lighten up..." Oren was immediately cut off.

"Quiet you, you're drunk: I can tell." Tidea scorned.

"I'm only a little tipsy, still good to fight a dragon." Oren gave a thumbs up as Ravage got back on his feet, the kitsune dusting himself off.

"And yet you don't question any of this..." Tidea sighed. Oren shrugged.

"I honestly think it's better if I don't." Oren admitted.

"I like this guy..." Ravage muttered, stretching his legs one after the other, leaning from his left to his right.

"Wonderful." Tidea replied. "Now onto the important matters, where the hell did that thing come from?" Tidea wondered. Oren pointed up to the sky. Tidea narrowed her eyes.

"He's not wrong." Ravage defended Oren. "Though I'll go with it was summoned." He added.

"Who the hell would summon a dragon in a city?" Tidea questioned.

"Have you considered terrorists? Bad guys?" Ravage lifted his right brow.

"I'll put 20 on bad guys... I like those odds." Oren chipped in.

"Grr... let's just go, Ravage." Tidea turned and saw the city guard approaching. "Oh what now..."

"Ah, the clean-up crew." Oren folded his arms.

"Hey, your outfit looks similar to the city guard." Ravage noted, looking to Oren.

"Heheh..." Oren nodded. "Oren, city guard special forces 2nd class." He informed.

"They let someone like you on a special forces group?" Tidea looked back in disbelief.

"All it takes is skill, courage and determination." Oren chuckled, shrugging as he did.

"Humph." Tidea looked away. The guards stopped just before the crater. Six in total. Oren smiled and waved.

"Sir." The first guard saluted Oren.

"All dealt with boys, stick around though, have a few drinks." Oren nodded.

"Thank you sir, but we're on duty."

"So was I, but it is a time for festivities after all. Still helped take down a dragon even after a bit of sauce." Oren laughed.

"Hey there!" Ravage jumped to Oren's side, using his sheathed katana as a rest: demon arm resting on the butt of its hilt. The guards jumped back.

"That must be the thing command has been on about."

"This is Ravage." Oren spoke up. "He actually killed the dragon. Helped save all the people here. Seems like a swell guy."

"If you say so, sir."

"It wasn't anything to write home about." Ravage shrugged. "So, the king is at his palace right?" He inquired. The guards looked to one another, confused.

"He wants to see your king." Tidea interjected.

"See the king?" Oren raised his left brow.

"Uh huh." Ravage nodded. "I killed that dragon for ya, think that earns me an audience. Saved a lot of lives here." He added. "Plus I can wish him happy birthday."

"He's not wrong." Oren muttered.

"Even so, we can't just let you see the king like that." One of the guards shuck his head. "That's just ludicrous."

"Look, I haven't hurt anyone, I've killed a dragon and protected your citizens: I just wanna know a few things, ask a few questions. Then I'll be on my way. Trust me, just let me see your king and I'll be gone in no-time." Ravage responded.

"Look, even if we wanted to, we're just lowly city guards. Barking up the wrong tree."

"And I can only pull so many strings." Oren added.

"Look... his majesty is at the coliseum for the special battle show on tonight, if you wanna see him... you'll have to go there and see how things go for you."

"Huh, quick tone change. Well that show will get a lot more interesting, I promise you. Think of it as a birthday gift for the guy." Ravage smirked.

"I'll take 'em there." Oren spoke up. "You guys just get things here under control, enjoy yourselves afterwards."

"T-thank you, sir."

"Stop with the sir thing buddy, loosen up a little." Oren chuckled.

"Great, a coliseum..." Tidea sighed.

"You can sit this out, I wanna take the coliseum thing on by myself. Sounds like a fun way to introduce myself." Ravage rested his sheathed sword on his right shoulder.

"I can't wait..." Tidea shuck her head and sighed again.

* * *

"And for our next battle we have something very special planned!" The announcer declared to the coliseum's audience. "Something even more spectacular than the original show we had scheduled! A dragon recently attacked the city centre but thanks to the heroics of our next combatent, luckily no one was harmed! Fortune truly befalls upon our kingdom folks! Now let's bring him out, he's sure to leave you in awe!" Ravage cracked his neck from side to side as he stood in the shadows, crimson eyes piercing the darkness as he waited for the metal gate in front of him to open.

* * *

"I can't wait to see the brave hero who slayed that beast." The king spoke as he sat upon a throne in a luxurious balcony overlooking the arena. His hair and fine beard were grey with age but he retained a youthful spirit in his sky blue eyes. He was dressed in blue royal garbs with a crimson cape, well-kept black boots on his feet and his golden crown atop his head. "He has my eternal gratitude for saving those people."

* * *

"Let's get this started." Ravage grinned. The gate lowered into the floor, the crowd cheered. Ravage started to walk forward, stepping into the light and the arena. The wind blew through his fur, the crowd was left speechless as the kitsune walked out into the open: three tails flowing behind him as he gripped the scabbard of his sword in his left hand.

"Behold! Ravage! The fearless dragon slayer, defender of the people! Your entertainment for tonight!" The announcer exclaimed through the speakers. The people had to cheer after that. Ravage smiled and waved, giving a thumbs up now and then.

* * *

"So... the rumours are true... not what I was expecting actually." The king muttered as he looked upon Ravage.

* * *

"Oh he's loving this..." Tidea frowned, leaning against a wall in the stands. Oren was clapping for Ravage.

* * *

"He may look strange, but Ravage sure is strong! Show 'em what you can do little hero!" The announcer cheered for Ravage as the gates on the opposite end of the arena opened up. A horde of goblins rushed out, each one running forward on all fours until they surrounded Ravage, at which point they stood up and drew their swords and spears. "A little starter! Give 'em hell!"

"Gladly." Ravage chuckled, his pupils glowing for a split-second. Ravage closed his eyes and stood calmly in place as the first few goblins jumped towards him. He batted two of them away with his sheathed blade before pulling the katana out of its scabbard as one goblin flew at him from above. The light shined off of the blade and Ravage's face reflected in it as he drew it from its scabbard. Moving at a speed that made his attack unseeable to the normal human eye, Ravage had sliced the goblin clean in two with a single attack. Ravage proceeded to cut up four more goblins around him in by slicing through their waists with one sweep before he twirled and then resheathed his katana. More goblins continued to approach him. He dodged the first of their attacks and drew his blade again, sweeping one goblin off of their feet and slicing through it with a single cut before dashing past two of its allies and slicing them to pieces with one attack, resheathing his katana a 3rd time. He then blocked an attack from behind with the scabbard before kicking the attacker into the air and then cutting the goblin in two with one attack before resheathing his katana once again. Three more goblins rushed at Ravage. He batted the first one back before slicing it into three pieces; kicked the 2nd into the air as he resheathed his katana only to draw it a split second later with such speed and force, whilst channeling his energy into the blade, that the attack not only cut apart the one in the air but the goblin behind it as well. The unkempt white fur on the front of Ravage's head fell down as he dashed past the falling body parts, drooping down over his forehead. Ravage looked over his shoulder as five more goblins hesitantly stalked up behind him. He twirled his sword around before dashing towards them, running past and inbetween each of them with incredible speed as he swung his blade wildly: slicing them all to pieces before he skidded to a halt. The last goblin fell to the ground, dead and in pieces, as Ravage twirled his katana around one last time, flicking the blood from its blade, before putting it back in its scabbard. Ravage ran his demon arm hand through the drooping down fur on his head and spiked it back up into its regular unkempt style. The goblins' corpses were littered around Ravage.

"Sensational!" The announcer yelled as the crowd cheered. "Now for round 2!"

"It begins." Ravage grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on..." Ravage smirked, beckoning forth whatever was to emerge from the darkness with his right hand. A pack of direwolves rushed forth to meet the confident kitsune, each beast bearing their razor sharp teeth as the cool wind blew through their shaggy dark brown fur. Ravage pushed his sword an inch out of its scabbard with his left thumb as one direwolves sprinted past him and then immediately turned around, leaping into the air with its mouth wide open. Ravage took hold of his katana's hilt with his right hand, gripping it tightly before he drew the blade fully from its sheath and dashed forward before the direwolf could hit him, dashing past a lot more direwolves in the blink of an eye and skidding to a halt behind them, turned to face them. The direwolf that had pounced at him fell apart into three separate pieces as Ravage sheathed his katana: the moment the blade clicked into place the closest five direwolves to him also fell apart. Nine left. Ravage chuckled. He dashed forward once more, cutting down the first beast on his right with his initial strike; spinning forward afterwards and cutting straight through the next direwolf with a single attack, reappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving behind an afterimage, before two more direwolves and rapidly slicing them to pieces, he then threw his katana's scabbard through the air behind him, the thing smashing straight through one direwolf's skull and then into another, impaling them both as Ravage dashed after it and cut down another beast in his way before he threw his sword and made it spin through the air like a helicopter blade around him, cutting up the remaining direwolves in the process as Ravage turned to catch the blade upon its return. Catching it effortlessly in his left hand, Ravage gripped the hilt as he held the blade in reverse and then shoved it back into its scabbard as the thing was suspended in mid-air with enough force to cause the two direwolves impaled on it to explode with a burst of energy. "Huh..." Ravage smirked as he held the sheathed blade at his side.

* * *

"I've never seen a style like that, the way he uses that sword of his..." Oren commented.

"It must be one of the ancient arts lost to us when the world was broken." Tidea muttered. "He seems to use the momentum of unsheathing the blade to deliver harder blows and exploit openings in his enemy's offence and defence thanks to their lowered guard. For such a bombastic little squirt that style does show a calm cunningness to him. Very tricky." She added.

"Huh, astute observation there." Oren shrugged.

"Fitting for a kitsune." Tidea scowled.

* * *

"And Ravage absolutely decimates his opposition!" The announcer squealed. "This guy sure knows some moves."

"Heh, ain't even braking a sweat." Ravage twirled his sheathed katana around in his left hand. "Nice to put on a show though." He chuckled.

"You came for a display of amazing swordsmanship and Ravage is delivering! Let's see how he deals with round 3! Bring on round 3! Time to ramp things up!" The crowd cheered as the metal gates opened up.

"Oh?" Ravage rested the scabbard over his left shoulder. A massive two-headed snake slithered out of the darkness and into the arena, its sage green scales shining in the moonlight as its yellow eyes glowed intensely. Ravage holstered his sheathed katana on his back, held in place by the magnet in his brown shoulder holster. The twin-branch hissed at him, the slithering beast 25 metres in length. Ravage cracked his knuckles before smashing his fists together as an aura of flames engulfed him and bio-electricity zapped around his forearms and then his entire body. "You'll be a good starter." Ravage grinned.

"Looks like Ravage is powering up, folks! Let's see what he can do against this twin-branch!"

* * *

"Whoah, fire and sparks. Not half bad..." Oren folded his arms and nodded. "Probably got some bite."

"Huh, never any ice..." Tidea mumbled.

* * *

"Let's go." Ravage rushed forward, leaving behind a trail of flames as his bio-electricity zapped against the ground with each step he took. The twin-branch went to slam its tail down upon Ravage as he ran towards it, but the kitsune side-stepped to his right before he jumped up and uppercutted the left head of the twin-branch with his demon arm. Ravage then used his demon arm to call forth its spectral copy and use that to take hold of the twin-branch's right head and slam it into the ground. Just then the left head recovered and closed in on Ravage: swallowing him whole. The crowd gasped but then the mouth of the beast's left head was forced open. "Quicker than I anticipated..." Ravage muttered as held the mouth open, his legs forcing the jaw down as his arms kept the top from clamping down. The crowd cheered. "I ain't good for your health buddy, trust me..." Ravage fired an energy blast down the creature's throat before jumping out of its mouth and punching the left eye in of the twin-branch's right head as it rose back up. The twin-branch screeched in pain as Ravage rolled across the arena floor before jumping back onto his feet. He turned back to face the creature as it recovered and prepared to strike. Ravage beckoned it forward with his right hand. The twin-branch pounced, going all-in. Ravage chuckled and pulled both of his arms back, holding them at his side. The twin-branch reached Ravage and the kitsune met both heads head-on with a rapid flurry of punches. "Ora, ora, ora, ora, ora!" Ravage grinned as he had both heads on the ropes with his unrelenting barrage. As Ravage continued his rapid punch barrage, his three tails curled round to face his front: his left and centre tail poised on his left side and his right tail poised at his right shoulder. He began to thrust them rapidly back and forth at the twin-branch, the three tails joining in on the assault, Ravage using their glaive-like tips to repeatedly stab the serpentine beast whilst he continued to batter it with punches at the same time. The twin-branch reered back, hissing and seething in pain. Ravage flicked the blood from the tips of his tails and took a step back. The twin-branch was absolutely exhausted, bleeding and bruised all over. Ravage disappeared from sight, reappearing atop the beast's left head a split-second after. It looked like he'd teleported but he'd actually just moved that quickly with a sudden burst of speed. He stood atop the beast with his arms folded and a smirk on his face. He jumped down to the mouth of the left head and ripped its right fang out effortlessly, the beast roaring as Ravage jumped up into the sky above and readied the fang. The twin-branch's eyes widened as Ravage began to descend.

"GYAAAAAA!" Ravage plunged the fang into the skull of the left head before backflipping away as the right-hand head rushed to devour him. A blood-red demonic rune appeared at Ravage's feet as he flipped through the air and he used that to propel himself forward by jumping off of it as if it was a wall. The right head of the twin-branch quickly looked to its side to see Ravage flying at it. The kitsune took hold of the hilt of his sword with his left hand as he flew through the air towards the twin-branch. The serpent's remaining head shot forth a blast of venom but Ravage created another rune platform beneath his feet and jumped over it. The twin-branch looked up to see Ravage readying a downwards strike with his katana. Slice! Ravage cut straight through the right-hand head, straight down the middle. He followed up with a rapid flurry of cuts, further slicing it up before placing his demon arm over his left elbow, its palm facing the slowly falling apart head as the kitsune hung in the air. Ravage unleashed a massive energy blast from the palm and completely obliterated the twin-branch's right head: leaving a stump behind. Ravage landed safely on the ground as the twin-branch collapsed dead in front of him. Ravage pulled his sword's scabbard away from his back and sheathed the blade in front of him. A single sweat dropped rolled down the right side of his face.

"Huh... still adjusting to this planet... hmm, actually took a bit of effort on that last part." Ravage muttered, wiping the sweat away. He grinned. "Good, no fun without a challenge now and then." He followed up as the crowd cheered, holding his sheathed weapon by his left side once more.

"What a finish ladies and gentlemen! Ravage handled that twin-branch like as if it was nothing! The next two rounds are sure to be spectacular!"

"Heheh..." Ravage rubbed his nose with his right index finger. "Now this is an ok warm-up. Bring it on."

* * *

"Wow, he'd make our special forces 1st class within a day, if not less, no doubt." Oren chuckled.


	6. Chapter 6

"Do me a favour..." Ravage turned to face the last lower dragon left in the arena, dropping the last one he had slain to the ground as the spectral arm he had summoned faded away, the four-legged winged beast with brown scales and patches of yellow fur advancing towards the kitsune as the corpses of it two brethren were scattered around the battlefield. "Don't squirm." Ravage dashed straight for the winged monster, leaping into the air as it spewed a torrent of flames from its mouth. Suddenly the flames stopped, Ravage was now atop the beast's head. He held his sword's scabbard behind his back in his left hand as he twirled his katana around in his right hand. The dragon's head began to bleed all over and slowly fall apart as Ravage took a step forward whilst sheathing his blade behind his back. The moment he fully sheathed the sword and began sliding down the back of the dragon's neck the creature's head completely fell apart: blood spewing out from the stump at the end of its neck as the chunks Ravage had sliced the head up into crashed onto the floor. Ravage jumped off of the corpse as it fell down and landed by its side as the crowd cheered. Ravage rested his sheathed sword over his left shoulder and smiled and waved.

"And round 5 comes to a stunning conclusion! Ravage surely is out of this world! You came for a special show tonight and Ravage delivered tenfold!"

"Got interesting, I won't lie." Ravage chuckled. "Hope the show was as good for you as it was for me."

* * *

"I must meet this Ravage in person..." The king turned to one of his personal guards. "Invite him to the palace."

* * *

Ravage, Oren and Tidea walked into the throne room of the royal palace, Oren on Ravage's right and Tidea on his left. The guards closed the massive double doors behind them as they walked on, across the red carpet laid on the marble floor. The king stood up from his throne and walked down the set of steps in front of him, ready to greet the trio. The group stopped a few metres in front of the king. Each one gave him a respectful half-bow. The king nodded as they rose back up.

"Oren Turk, your majesty."

"Tidea Terram, your highness."

"Ravage, sir."

"A pleasure to meet you all." The king smiled. "I understand you've been seeking an audience with me, Ravage." He looked to the kitsune.

"That's correct, sir." Ravage nodded.

"A request I've been more than happy to grant upon receiving news of you slaying that dragon and saving the people in the city centre." The king stroked his beard.

"Tidea and Oren here chipped in as well, little bit of a team effort." Ravage informed.

"Of course, I mean to reward them as well. But seeing as how you've come all this way and went to a bit of trouble just to see me, I am indebted to fulfill your request. What is it you have come here for, Ravage? According to the ancient texts a kitsune is a bad omen, but you have proven to be a rather fortunate one: you're also unlike any kitsune I've heard and read of." The king awaited Ravage's response.

"I'm searching for the power of this planet." Ravage answered. Tidea gave a thoughtful look to the kitsune as Oren scratched his head in confusion. The king knew what he meant, Ravage could tell as he looked him in the eye. The king stared straight back, looking the kitsune in the eye.

"I see... yes, I understand..." The king turned and looked out to one of the many large windows in the hall. Ravage gave him a curious look. "I see it in your eyes, your reasoning." The king walked over to the window and looked out to the city. Ravage was a little taken back but didn't show it. "I cannot promise you you'll get what you want..." The king admitted. "But, I can point you in the direction of what you seek, get you on the path you wish to follow." He looked back to Ravage. "There is a burning passion I see in those eyes, and I understand."

"Maybe you do, maybe you don't." Ravage nodded.

"I do not know what will become of all this, were it anyone else I might refuse... but, what you seek is the Gaia Gems."

"Ah, a mcguffin hunt." Ravage folded his arms and smirked. "TV Tropes will have a field day."

"They are what you would call the planet's power, each one residing in temples across what remains of this world. They've been around since we lost the other half of our planet." The king explained. "One in each of the remaining regions."

"Well, at least I'll get to see a few sights along the way." Ravage commented.

"The temple in my kingdom resides to the east of this city. You can't miss it." The king turned around to face Ravage. "I have no idea what will happen when you take the gems, I just pray everything works out for everyone."

"I do too." Ravage nodded, unfolding his arms.

"Now, I must thank you all for your brave acts earlier." The king smiled as he looked over Tidea, Ravage and Oren.

"No need, I seek no reward or thanks. If a monster appears before me, I destroy it: simple as that, your highness." Tidea spoke up.

"A woman of action, I wish more people would adopt your selflessness and conviction." The king nodded. "I thank you regardless, I am in your debt." He moved on to Ravage.

"No need for more thanks, you've repaid me more than enough. I'll slay ten more if you want." Ravage smiled. The king nodded again.

"I don't doubt you could." The king chuckled. He moved on to Oren. "You must be in the city guards' special forces."

"Yes sir." Oren saluted. "2nd class, sir."

"Well, guess who just made 1st class, Oren." The king put his right hand on Oren's left shoulder.

"T-thank you, King Dusca." Oren took a quick half bow.

"I'll have your commanding officer notified immediately. Now, for your real reward. What would you like? Or are you already content?" Dusca inquired.

"Actually, sir. All I want is your permission." Oren informed.

"Permission?" Dusca raised a brow.

"Going on a globe-trotting adventure sounds like a lot of fun and a good way to hone my skills: I'd like to go with Ravage sir." Oren replied.

"I already said he's more than welcome on the way here." Ravage shrugged.

"Go right ahead, Oren." King Dusca smiled. "Hell, have a free new car as well, on me." Oren's face lit up a christmas trip. "It'll help you all out."

"Roadtrip!" Ravage and Oren exclaimed, high-fiving each other. Tidea facepalmed.

* * *

The sun was shining bright high up in the clear blue skies above. The gentle summer breeze was blowing through the lush green grass in the open fields of the wilderness. Ravage was sleeping in the back of Oren's new car, his feet up on the right-hand door. The roof of the red, sleek car was down and so the wind was blowing through Oren's spiky red hair and Tidea's shoulder-length brown hair. Oren was of course driving, one-handed wigh his right arm resting on the door, with Tidea riding shotgun. Their broadsword and scythe were resting inbetween the two, placed in weapon slots the car had been installed with. The seats were a very comfy brown leather, comfortable enough for Ravage to dose off easily: his left arm around his sheathed katana and his tails resting over the seats.

"Not bad, hey?" Oren glanced to Tidea, his sunglasses over his forehead. She was sat there with her arms folded, looking out to the plains.

"Beats walking." Tidea muttered.

"Yeah." Oren looked back to the road. "Sure, it ain't no airship but this'll get us around the continent pretty nicely." He chuckled.

"If you say so." Tidea nodded.

"Besides, once we're done with this continent we can get an airship, take the car with us and use it on the others as well. We'll be done in no-time." Oren went on.

"If you say so." Tidea kept on looking out to the distance.

"Cheer up, the whole world is our playground now: the adventures we'll have..." Oren smirked.

"The world isn't sunshine and rainbows, and I'm not interested in adventures." Tidea responded.

"Great at parties..." Oren muttered to himself. Tidea frowned. Ravage yawned in the back, slowly opening his eyes and stretching his arms.

"Morning." Ravage smiled, resting his head in his hands.

"Kid's awake, honey." Oren joked. Tidea slowly turned her head and shot Oren a death glare. Both Oren and Ravage and chuckled.

"I hate you both."


	7. Chapter 7

"So we just keep heading east." Oren nodded.

"That's the plan, we'll find the first temple eventually." Ravage replied, the wind blowing through the fur atop his head.

"Well, at least the weather is nice today." Oren rubbed his chin.

"Stop here." Tidea spoke up. Oren put his foot on the break, the car screeched to a halt. Tidea grabbed her scythe and opened the car door, stepping out and activating her scythe: the pole extending and blade folding out. Tidea closed the car door. She walked over to the open patch of ground besides the road and came to a stop besides a small rock. She stood with her back to the car, scythe resting over her right shoulder. Oren looked to Ravage.

"I guess she's up for it now..." Ravage grabbed his katana and jumped out of the car.

"Huh?" Oren raised his left brow.

"I promised her a fight... well, another one." Ravage looked back to Oren. "It's complicated. Might wanna pull the car back a little." Ravage began to walk towards Tidea. Oren put the car in reverse and took it back up the road just a little before the open patch. Ravage stopped besides Tidea, on her left. They stared out into the distance.

"If I can beat you... I will kill you." Tidea warned.

"Not happening." Ravage spoke with a stern tone that Tidea had not heard before. For the first time she took him seriously.

"I see." Tidea closed her eyes. "And if you win?"

"I'm not here to destroy this world." Ravage responded, not directly answering the question. "If I was, the deed would be done in the blink of an eye, everything you've ever known would be gone in an instant. A planet is nothing special, especially in a state such as this." Tidea scowled. "But you won't listen..." Ravage continued. He smirked. "So I guess I'll just beat it in to you." He turned to his left and took a few steps away from Tidea. Tidea sighed and turned to her right. Oren stepped out of the car. "You're stubborn, maybe as much as me." Ravage chuckled.

"I'm done holding back." Tidea spoke up. She took a few steps forward then turned to face Ravage as the kitsune turned to face her. Oren leaned against the car, his arms folded.

"Good... because I'm not." Ravage scratched his right ear. Tidea narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe I am stubborn, maybe I can't win... maybe... I'm wrong." Tidea lowered her scythe, the blade stabbing into the dirt beneath her feet. "But I'll fight regardless."

"You've got guts. Or maybe you're just a fool. The line blurs for me, speaking from personal experience." Ravage put his left foot behind his right. "Ah, self-deprecation." He chuckled.

"Hmm..." Tidea put her right behind her left and picked up her scythe, pulling the blade from the ground.

"Let's dance." Ravage prepared to quick-draw his blade, wrapping his right hand around the sword's hilt as he assumed his ready stance. His eyes glowed for a split-second as he smirked. A flash of blue appeared around Tidea in the next split-second, a blue aura briefly enveloping her.

"This ends here, today." Tidea dashed forward, the ground cracking up where she once stood, moving fast enough to leave behind multiple afterimages. Ravage drew his sword and blocked her first strike by parrying the blade. Sparks flew between them.

"Sure, I might die eventually..." Ravage sent Tidea flying back by simply pushing forward with his sword. Tidea flipped through the air before digging her scythe into the ground and grinding to a halt just as Ravage reappeared above her. She blocked his downwards strike with the pole of her scythe. Ravage backflipped and Tidea jumped up and swung for him, Ravage blocked with his demon arm. "But that won't be today, not by your hand." He kicked her back, the two backflipping from one another afterwards before skidding to a halt as they touched the ground. Ravage and Tidea sprinted towards one another, their blades clashing as they met head-on. "Bring your all, it's not enough to take me down." They both started to jump around randomly, going back and forth on one another with their blades clashing each time. With their next clash the meeting of their weapons sent out a shockwave upon impact and the ground then exploded around them. "You're controlled by the thought of that damn prophecy, whatever it is." Ravage berated as they continually swung at each other whilst the ground they stood upon flew up into the air. Ravage jumped up onto another chunk of ground and continued to parry and counter Tidea's attack as he stood upside down relative to her. "Well I say to hell with that over-used crap..." The chunks of ground they stood upon spun around through the air, the two switching places as they continued to counter one another. "Why? Because it's relative to me, and I don't play by anybody's rules but my own: so screw it." Tidea growled. "If it was any other prophecy I might say 'sure, why not, go on following it or whatever'." Tidea jumped for Ravage, punching him in the face with a left hook before stabbing him in the side with her scythe and smashing him through the chunk of ground he had stood upon. Ravage growled and stabbed Tidea through the gut with his sword and began punching her in the face as she did the same to him as they fell through the air. They landed punch after punch on each other as their weapons stabbed deeper into the other. Tidea and Ravage then headbutted each other before pulling their weapons out of one another and kicking each other away before they crashed into the ground. The debris began to crash around them as they briefly stared down, their wounds healing up. "Why so serious?" Ravage smirked. Both he and Tidea moved in the blink of an eye, reappearing directly in front of one another and clashing scythe against katana once again.

"Shut up, you talk too much." Tidea growled.

"You usually heal-up so easily?" Ravage jumped back before rushing forward and kicking Tidea in the stomach: sending her crashing through the rock behind her. Tidea tumbled across the ground as Ravage rushed to her, grabbed her by her right leg with his demon arm and pulled her back before punching her in the face, bouncing her off the ground before he kicked her in the spine and sent her crashing through another rock. Oren winced as he leaned against the car. Tidea used her scythe to push herself back up as the dust settled. She stumbled just a little but wiped the blood from her lip and set her eyes on Ravage again.

"I'm a bit more adept with magic than you might think. Enough that I can use my reserves to heal me..." Tidea informed. "So I've got some basics down." She twirled her scythe around behind her.

"Well ain't that nice." Ravage mused. "I'm just fortunate enough to have a moderate healing factor and the know-how to use my energy to heal up even faster, or what I naturally can't." He informed.

"Noted." Tidea narrowed her eyes. She beckoned Ravage to strike first, taunting him almost. Ravage chuckled. Blue spectral katanas appeared around Ravage, spinning around his body, the summoned swords then immediately teleported to behind him: three on each side. He pointed to Tidea and each summoned sword shot off, flying at her with super speed. Tidea rushed forward, slicing through summoned sword after summoned sword. Ravage continued to summon more, firing one after the other as he readied a quick-draw. "Aaaaa-AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!" Tidea picked up the speed, slicing apart everything in her path before she dashed straight towards Ravage, flying at him with her scythe ready. Ravage dashed to meet her, drawing his blade and sending out a sword beam. Tidea countered by sending out a crescent blast herself with a swing of her scythe. The two blasts clashed and exploded before Ravage and Tidea, the two leaping up into the air, over the smoke, and clashing their blades together once again. They spun around in mid-air before jumping back from another and landing on the ground as the smoke cleared. Tidea swung her scythe repeatedly, sending out golden scythe beam after scythe beam. Ravage sheathed his katana as the blasts raged towards him. He drew the blade again, slicing apart the first before he spun around and sheathed his sword behind him. Quick-draw. Ravage spun again and sliced through the next. Sheath. Ravage jumped over the 3rd blast, quick-drawing his sword in mid-air as he jumped over the scythe beam: slicing the 3rd one as well. Sheathed again. Ravage landed. Quick-draw. Ravage repeatedly sliced apart the the last beam before twirling his katana around and sheathing it in front of his face. The now stationary, cut up beams exploded behind Ravage as he did so. Tidea leapt up into the air, Ravage drawing his blade again but to block as she came down with a downwards strike. Tidea pushed Ravage down with the impact, creating a little crater around the kitsune. Tidea backflipped away and skidded to a halt upon touching the ground as Ravage jumped back. Tidea and Ravage twirled their weapons around before charging one another, swinging wildly as they rushed forward: their clashing crescent blasts exploding around them as they ran for one another. Tidea knocked Ravage's sword from his grasp, kicking him in the face afterwards. Ravage skidded to a halt as the blood trailed from his nose and his sword stuck into the ground off to the side. He smirked and held his arms out as Tidea dashed for him. He jumped over her first attack, ducked under her 2nd and then leapt onto her scythe when she swung for the 3rd time. He ran down the weapon and kneed Tidea in the face, jumping over her as she stumbled back and then summoning his demon arm's spectral copy to grab Tidea and slam her repeatedly into the ground before he rushed at her and elbowed her in the face. Tidea stabbed him in the side again, letting go of her weapon and skidding backwards as Ravage growled and tried to remove the blade. Tidea rolled forward, pulling Ravage's sword from the ground as Ravage removed her scythe from his waist. Tidea kneed the kitsune in the face before grabbing her scythe out of the air and tossing the katana to Ravage as he performed multiple backwards handstands to get away. Tidea twirled her scythe around as Ravage caught his katana in his left hand.

"Tidea!" Ravage exclaimed. "This is my sword!" Sparks zapped around the blade as he wrapped his right hand around the hilt and held the sword out in front of him. "Time for Ravage to let her rip." For some reason the ground set on fire around Ravage.

"Grr... I'll rip you in half! With my bare hands!" Tidea clenched her left fist in front of her face.

"Standing here, I realise..."

"Stop singing!" Tidea rushed forward. The flames surrounding Ravage died down and the kitsune rushed to Tidea as she rushed at him. Ravage's sword caught fire and so Tidea infused her scythe with ice magic. The two clashed, sending both Ravage and Tidea flying back. "Grr..." Tidea dug her scythe into the ground, halting her momentum as Ravage repeatedly jumped off the ground as he flew back until he skidded to a halt not too long after Tidea came to a stop.

"Ahh shit... ice... you've got the touch... yeeeah... ok, no more song references." Ravage sheathed his sword and holstered it on his back. He smashed his fists together, an aura of flames and bio-electricity engulfing him. "I burn..." He looked to his left. "Damn it, Ravage." Tidea reappeared in front of him and blasted him in the face with ice magic, fired from her left hand. "Owww..." Ravage grated his teeth. He swiftly uppercutted Tidea with his demon arm, rising with her. "Ravryuken!" Tidea recovered and kicked him in the side of the head before she punched him down to the ground. Ravage flipped and landed safely on all fours, jumping out of the way as Tidea threw her scythe at him. The blade stuck into the ground and Tidea landed on the pole, doing a handstand as Ravage flew at her with a flying kick. Tidea spun around on the side of the scythe and countered with a kick of her own, pulling her scythe out afterwards and swinging it at Ravage as she spun in mid-air. Ravage caught the blade and threw the scythe, and Tidea with it, away before he landed on the ground. Tidea flipped around and landed safely on the side of a rock: launching herself off of it immediately after. Ravage blocked her attack and punched straight through her follow-up ice blast before jumping up and spin-kicking her away. Tidea tumbled across the ground and jumped back to her feet to see Ravage directly in front of her. He delivered a straight punch to Tidea's gut, winding her and making her cough up blood. "Disappointing." Ravage unleashed a flurry of lightning fast kicks with his left leg alone, absolutely battering Tidea around before he spun around and sent her flying back with a straight kick from his right foot. Tidea stabbed her scythe into the ground as Ravage stood with his back to her, halting her momentum. She growled and wiped the blood from her lip. What was seemingly a bolt of lightning suddenly struck her, stunning her, followed by a pillar of fire bursting out of the ground and knocking her into the air.

"Huh...?" Tidea was caught off guard as Ravage appeared above her as she flew upwards. He punched her straight back down into the ground, leaving her in a crater. Tidea's scythe spun through the air and landed next to her, blade imbedded in the ground. Ravage landed a few feet away from the crater. He sighed as his fiery aura disappeared and his bio-electricity faded away. A torrent of blue energy shot up into the sky. "ARRGGGHHHHHHHH!" Tidea was on her feet, eyes glowing bluelike the sparking aura that had engulfed her. "Ravage!" She grabbed her scythe and flew at the kitsune, Ravage barely dodging her first attack. He smirked and chuckled. "AHHHHHHHH!" Tidea's 2nd attack struck him, freezing him in place beforehand with a quick ice magic blast. She proceeded to repeatedly strike him with scythe slice after scythe slice before spinning the scythe in front of her in a pinwheel fashion, repeatedly slicing Ravage. She then stabbed Ravage through the gut with her scythe, slammed him around repeatedly before jumping up into the air and flinging him off the blade: sending him crashing into the ground below. Tidea landed just in front of him, taking deep, heavy breaths as her aura faded and eyes stopped glowing. "I... I... damn it, why won't you die?" Tidea rested on her scythe. Ravage slowly pushed himself up, coughing up blood as he did.

"Were I at a lower power level... that could've really, really hurt... you're pretty good." He forced himself back up. "I'd go as far to say that I underestimated you." He followed up. He took a few deep breaths himself. "But... I've had much worse. Don't be ashamed, you've shown your potential and broke a few limits. Not bad. I think I have a rival in the making... I'll add you to the list." Ravage chuckled weakly. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so soft on yah." He mused. "Still, everything is a lot stronger than average in this world, and I do feel a lot weaker here: I'm having to slowly adjust to the place."

"You're unbelievable... what a fool I am for thinking I could compare..." Tidia sighed.

"Oh trust me, knowing what this world is... you could very well one day. Anybody here has such potential I'm guessing... this planet is from a time long lost, I know it can produce very powerful beings. Hell, I may just run into a handful along the way. More powerful than you and Oren are right now, oh of course I will: there's always a bigger fish." Ravage replied. "But, you're both going to get much stronger as well. Come on, let's go."

"Huh?" Tidea was a little confused.

"Just don't worry about that stupid prophecy. Have some fun, lighten up a bit. It's not good to always be angry, to always worry. Those two have their time and place, and this is neither. Don't fret about me, I have no intention of harming this planet." Ravage smiled. Tidea was silent. "You coming with us or not?"

"I... I still don't trust you... but fine, at least to keep my eye on you." Tidea bowed her head.

"Fine by me." Ravage shrugged. "I wouldn't trust me either." He chuckled. "Come on, fighting is over, back to the car we go." Ravage walked off. Tidea stood back up, folding up her scythe as she sighed, holstering it on her back afterwards.

"Little punk has charisma, I'll give him that..." She begrudgingly muttered. She turned and followed Ravage back to the car.

"Well that was a thing..." Oren spoke up as the other two approached. "Pretty good moves out there." Oren smiled.

"Thanks." Ravage hopped back into the back of the car, setting his sheathed katana down besides him. He rested his head in his hands and put his right leg over his left.

"Thanks..." Tidea sighed and responded to Oren.

"So you can be nice." Oren chuckled.

"Get in the damn car." Tidea scowled.

"It was nice for the two seconds it lasted." Oren sighed, throwing his arms up in the air.


	8. Chapter 8

Ravage found himself sitting upon a wooden chair, besides a luxurious bed, as the flames of the fireplace across the room burned the logs and reflected in his crimson pupils. His three tails were hanging off the back of the chair and his fur-covered ears were drooping down. He stared into the flames as he rested his arms on his knees, hunched forward slightly. A lone figure laid in the bed to Ravage's left, unmoving and tucked up in the pure white quilt. Ravage glanced over to them, staring at their flowing reddish-orange hair as they were sleeping with their back turned to the little kitsune. Ravage noticed them twitch and shiver every so often. He had hoped they'd find peace in their sleep, instead it seemed as if they were plagued by nightmares. They escaped the physical pain only to be found by psychological torture in their supposed rest. Yet they did not wake. They had not woken in a 100 Earth years. This wouldn't concern Ravage, he could and often did sleep for much longer after all, however he had thought the nightmares would have woken them by now. As they did for him. Ravage reached out with his left arm but slowly pulled it back almost immediately afterwards. He looked to the spotless wooden floorboards before drifting his head back up to watch the flames of the fireplace once more. He sighed and closed his eyes.

* * *

Ravage slowly opened his eyes, greeted by a blurry vision and the light of the sun above. He rubbed his eyes with his right hand and found his vision returning to normal, letting out a short yawn afterwards. He was still in the back of the car, Oren still driving and Tidea riding shotgun.

"You seem to take regular naps." Oren spoke up.

"I don't get much sufficient sleep these days, I try to rest whenever I can. I actually dozed off in the middle of a fight once." Ravage replied.

"You're joking." Oren laughed.

"It was a boring fight anyway." Ravage followed up.

"I don't think he's joking." Tidea looked to Oren. Oren's eyes widened.

"Well... you're certainly a case, Ravage." Oren sighed.

"And you two aren't?" Ravage sat back, resting his head in his hands. "Not your average folks." Oren looked over to Tidea.

"He's not wrong..." The red-head admitted.

"No, no he ain't." Tidea sighed.

"So, what'd your king say about that dragon? He got any suspicions on who might have summoned it?" Ravage inquired.

"All he said was he could only suspect it was someone from out of the kingdom. He had no leads. But, he's got a lot of people looking in to it: the investigation is underway. He told me that we shouldn't worry about it, but if we run into anything along the way... well, we know what to do." Oren answered.

"What kind of heartless bastard would do such a thing?" Tidea questioned. "I'll cut them down myself if we ever find 'em." She added.

"Of course we'll run in to them, it'd be an abandoned plot thread otherwise." Ravage responded. "They won't be some two-bit thug though, they'll be organised. To what degree? We'll find out later." Ravage shrugged.

"Speak with a lot of certainty there." Oren commented.

"You start to notice trends after a while." Ravage replied.

"You've seen a lot then?" Oren inquired. Ravage nodded.

"More than you might be able to comprehend."

"How old are you? You don't seem like you've been around that long." Tidea jumped in.

"You won't believe me but physically I'm three years old." Ravage informed.

"You're right I don't believe you... but why do I somehow know you're not lying." Tidea muttered.

"I thought you were just short." Oren chuckled.

"For my age, taller than average actually." Ravage chuckled in return.

"So how old are you actually? Not physically, just in years." Tidea looked back to Ravage.

"Can't say. I'm not exactly from around these parts so it wouldn't fully line up with the 'time' of this place, it's a long and complicated story: and I ain't up for telling it. But out of curiosity, how many days does this planet have in a year?" Ravage shrugged again.

"365." Tidea answered.

"Huh, noted." Ravage muttered.

"So, where do you come from?" Oren raised a brow.

"My house." Ravage smirked.

"Frickin' smartass." Tidea sighed.

"Yes and no." Ravage looked to Tidea.

"You're a complicated guy, Ravage." Oren commented.

"I get that a lot." Ravage replied. "What about you, Oren?" The kitsune asked.

"Me?" Oren glanced over his left shoulder. Ravage nodded. "Well, I'm a country boy. Moved to the city to join the royal guard. Always wanted to make the kingdom's special forces 1st class."

"Really?" Tidea looked over to Oren. He nodded. "I'm from the countryside myself... well, not this region's countryside." She informed.

"Oh? Where ya from?" Oren questioned Tidea.

"A place called Duscae." Tidea replied. Oren laughed. Tidea gave him a funny look. "How about you?"

"Me? Gonheim." Oren answered. Tidea chuckled. "Hey, what's so funny about that? You know Gonheim?" Oren turned to Tidea again.

"No, but it's such a backwater name." Tidea answered.

"Ditto Duscae." Oren chuckled back.

"Like you've been there?" Tidea remarked.

"I haven't... but let me guess, you've got a mine and a power plant there? Right?" Oren shrugged.

"Yeah..." Tidea nodded.

"Which usually means..." Oren trailed off.

"Nothing else out there." He and Tidea spoke in union. They looked to one another and laughed. Ravage chuckled to himself.

"Good news, Ravage. Me and Tidea are both backwater experts. We'll have all the problems we face out here in the wild solved asap." Oren spoke to Ravage.

"That's good, I ain't much use for cooking and tent pitching." Ravage smirked.

"Really?" Oren smirked in return.

"I can make a mean campfire though." Ravage followed up.

"You'd probably burn down an entire forest." Oren joked.

"With any luck we'll reach a town or something soon." Tidea jumped in. Oren and Ravage nodded.

"We can ask about this temple whilst we're there as well. See if the locals can give us a few directions." Ravage replied. Tidea nodded. A distant quaking alerted Ravage. "You guys hear that?" Ravage asked. Oren put his foot on the brakes and the car skidded to a halt. The distant thundering sound grew louder. "Sounds like..." Ravage was cut off by a distant roar.

"I heard that." Tidea reached for her scythe. They all looked to their right to see a massive four legged beast charging towards them: sprinting across the plains with its fur-covered tail flowing behind it as the shaggy patches of fur on its legs and along its back waved in the wind, tusks protruding from its mouth which was lined with razor sharp teeth. It's skin was rough and leathery and its claws long and curved. "A plains beast." Tidea muttered.

"I've got this one..." Oren opened the car door, grabbed his broadsword and stepped out of the vehicle.

"You don't want a hand?" Ravage inquired. Oren closed the car door behind him and rested his broadsword over his left shoulder.

"I'm good, you guys have had your fun anyway." Oren began to walk off, heading for the charging beast. Tidea put her scythe back.

"Fair enough." Ravage nodded, sitting back.

"Alright, time to have some fun." Oren grinned, pulling his revolver from its holster with his right hand.


End file.
